Passionate about queer and trans history? The Collaboratory has two new UofT work study positions — a Social Media Manager and an Oral History Research Assistant — ready for students who want to turn their skills into action.
Remembering the Sugar Shack offers a powerful look back at a radical, QTBIPOC-led bathhouse night that redefined Toronto’s queer pleasure politics in the early 2000s. Through intimate reflections from organizers and attendees, this Q&A unpacks how the Sugar Shack challenged white dominance in queer spaces and centered joy, consent, and erotic freedom. A teaser for the June 10 event, this post invites readers to remember—and imagine—what liberatory sex-positive space can look like today.
In this conversation with Dr. Lucas Wilson, a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga, we dive into his bold shift from Holocaust studies to queer history. Luke shares how his personal journey—from surviving conversion therapy at an evangelical university to embracing his queer identity—now fuels his groundbreaking research into white Christian nationalism and its impact on LGBTQ+ communities, offering a powerful voice against oppressive systems.
Meet Gabryelle Iaconetti, a passionate historian dedicated to preserving the rich and often overlooked narratives of bisexual activism in Canada. From their journey into queer history during the pandemic to her doctoral research on bisexual support groups in smaller Ontario cities, Gabryelle's work reveals the powerful connection between bisexual history and queer history. Explore the unexpected joys of oral history and discover how tangible pieces of Toronto’s past have deepened her research.
Gender/Fucking: The Pleasures and Politics of Living in a Gendered Body is as bold and unclassifiable as its author. Blending poetry, erotica, personal reflections, and critical essays on transness, queer community, and the challenges of surviving under capitalism, this book is a must-read for anyone who lives in a body. Join Collaboratory friend Chris Aino Pihlak (she/her) as she sits down with the book’s author, Florence Ashley (they/them/that bitch), for a candid and far-reaching discussion on the book’s themes, and the experience of being a trans femme academic in 2024.
Nancy Irwin is the dyke you read about in queer history classes and the woman you always wished had a hand in raising you. World traveller, biker, writer, raconteur extraordinaire; Nancy sits down with The Gays Did What Now? for a tender reminiscence of dyke life in 1980s Toronto and her first girlfriend, the “very experienced lesbian,” Shirley. Listen to the audio or read the transcript for a riveting story of Nancy before she was the international dyke icon she is today.